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Tom Pendergast
Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939. Pendergast only briefly held elected office, as an alderman, but his capacity as chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Party allowed him to use his large network of Irish family and friends to help the election of politicians, in some cases by voter fraud, and to hand out government contracts and patronage jobs. He became wealthy in the process, but his addiction to gambling, especially horse racing, later led to a large accumulation of personal debts. In 1939, he was convicted of income tax evasion and served 15 months in a federal prison. The Pendergast organization helped to launch the political career of future president Harry S. Truman, which caused Truman's early enemies to dub him "the senator from Pendergast". Early years Thomas Joseph Pendergast, also known to ...
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Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Platte County, Missouri, Platte counties, with a small portion lying within Cass County, Missouri, Cass County. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090, making it the sixth-most populous city in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and List of United States cities by population, 38th-most populous city in the United States. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Terr ...
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Cristero War
The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticlerical articles of the Constitution of Mexico, 1917 Constitution. The rebellion was instigated as a response to an executive decree by Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles to strictly enforce Article 130 of the Constitution, an implementing act known as the Calles Law. Calles sought to limit the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico, its affiliated organizations and to suppress popular religiosity. The rural uprising in north-central Mexico was tacitly supported by the Church hierarchy, and was aided by urban Catholic supporters. The Mexican Army received support from the United States. American Ambassador Dwight Morrow brokered negotiations between the Calles government and the Church. The government made some concessions, the Church w ...
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Fidelity Bank And Trust Building
909 Walnut (formerly Fidelity National Bank & Trust Building, Federal Office Building and 911 Walnut) is a twin-spired, 35-story, residential skyscraper in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It was Missouri's tallest apartment building until the conversion of the Kansas City Power & Light building and the tenth-tallest habitable building in Missouri. In 1997, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. History The structure was built in 1931 as the Fidelity National Bank & Trust Building (referred to locally as the Fidelity Building) at an estimated cost of $2.85 million, including bank fixtures. The site had previously been a two-story post office and federal building until 1904, when Fidelity purchased the site for its headquarters. The two-story building was razed in 1930. The new building mimicked the original federal twin-spire structure, in an Art Deco-Gothic Revival architectural motif. The building's architect — Hoit, Price & Barnes — also des ...
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Kansas City Power And Light Building
The Kansas City Power and Light Building (also called the KCP&L Building and the Power and Light Building) is a landmark skyscraper located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It was constructed by Kansas City Power and Light President and Edison Pioneer, Joseph F. Porter in 1931 as a way to promote new jobs in Downtown Kansas City. Since then, the Art Deco building has been a prominent part of Kansas City's skyline. The structure was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River upon its completion after succeeding the Smith Tower until the completion of the Space Needle in 1962. The east façade of the building faces the Power & Light District (which bears its name), and the building's iconic lantern appears on promotional materials and signage for the district and even Kansas City as a whole. History The building was designed by the Kansas City architecture firm of Hoit, Price and Barnes, which also designed Municipal Auditorium and 909 Walnut. Rumor for years said ...
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Urban Legend
Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be entertaining but often concern mysterious peril or troubling events, such as disappearances and strange objects or entities. Urban legends may confirm moral standards, reflect prejudices, or be a way to make sense of societal anxieties. In the past, urban legends were most often circulated orally, at gatherings and around the Campfire story, campfire for instance. Now, they can be spread by any media, including newspapers, mobile news apps, e-mail, and most often, social media. Some urban legends have passed through the years/decades with only minor changes, in where the time period takes place. Generic urban legends are often altered to suit regional variations, but the lesson or moral generally remains the same. Origin and structure Th ...
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Country Club Plaza
The Country Club Plaza (often called The Plaza) is a privately owned regional shopping center in the Country Club District of Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri. Opened in 1923, it is considered to be the first planned large outdoor suburban shopping center in the United States and among the first regional centers to accommodate shoppers arriving by car. Planned in 1922 by J. C. Nichols and designed in Baroque Revival architecture, Baroque Revival and Moorish Revival architecture, Moorish Revival style echoing the architecture of Seville, Spain, The Plaza comprises numerous, large city blocks of high-end retail establishments, restaurants, and entertainment venues, as well as offices. The Country Club Plaza is named in the Project for Public Spaces' list ''60 of the World's Great Places''. It encompasses a 14-block area, and includes 40 statues, fountains and sculptures; 12 towers; carriage rides and sidewalk cafes; and at one time, 180 shops and restaurants. As of 20 ...
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Brush Creek (Blue River)
Brush Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 stream that runs from Johnson County, Kansas, through Jackson County, Missouri. It is a tributary of the Blue River. Brush Creek begins near West 80th Street and Lamar Avenue in Overland Park, Kansas, and drains to the Blue River at Blue Banks Avenue and Hardesty Avenue in Kansas City. History Brush Creek was named for the brush once lining its course. The Battle of Westport, the biggest battle in the American Civil War west of the Mississippi River, was fought on either side of it. The Country Club Plaza is built on the banks of the creek. The expansive lawn of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art runs from the steps of the museum down to the creek. Attempts to control flooding on the creek by paving it with concrete produced by companies owned by Political Boss Thomas Pendergast was a scandal in the 1930s. Heavy rainfall in September 1977 re ...
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Gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (game theory), strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elements to be present: consideration (an amount wagered), risk (chance), and a prize. The outcome of the wager is often immediate, such as a single roll of dice, a spin of a roulette wheel, or a horse crossing the finish line, but longer time frames are also common, allowing wagers on the outcome of a future sports contest or even an entire sports season. The term "gaming" in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law. The two words are not mutually exclusive; ''i.e.'', a "gaming" company offers (legal) "gambling" activities to the public and may be regulated by one of many gaming control boards, for example, the ...
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Alcoholic Beverage
Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-alcoholic drink, non-alcoholic. Many societies have a distinct drinking culture, where alcoholic drinks are integrated into party, parties. Most countries have Alcohol law, laws regulating the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Some regulations require the labeling of the percentage alcohol content (as ABV or Alcohol proof, proof) and the use of a Alcohol warning label, warning label. List of countries with alcohol prohibition, Some countries Prohibition, ban the consumption of alcoholic drinks, but they are legal in most parts of the world. The temperance movement advocates against the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The global alcohol industry, alcoholic drink industry exceeded $1.5 trillion in 2017. Alcohol is o ...
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Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word is also used to refer to a period of time during which such bans are enforced. History Some kind of limitation on the trade in alcohol can be seen in the Code of Hammurabi () specifically banning the selling of beer for money. It could only be bartered for barley: "If a beer seller do not receive barley as the price for beer, but if she receive money or make the beer a measure smaller than the barley measure received, they shall throw her into the water." A Greek city-state of Eleutherna passed a law against drunkenness in the 6th century BCE, although exceptions were made for religious rituals. In the early twentieth century, much of the impetus for the prohibition movement in the Nordic countries and North America ...
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18th And Vine
18th and Vine is a Neighborhoods of Kansas City, Missouri, neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. It is internationally recognized as a historical point of origin of jazz music and a historic hub of African-American businesses. Along with Basin Street in New Orleans, Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd Street in New York City, and Central Avenue (Los Angeles), Central Avenue in Los Angeles, the 18th and Vine area fostered a new style of jazz. Kansas City jazz is a riff-based and blues-influenced sound developed during jam sessions in the neighborhood's crowded clubs. Many jazz musicians of the 1930s and 1940s lived or got started here, including Charlie Parker. (includes 27 photographs) ansite map/ref> Due to this legacy, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver said 18th and Vine is America's third most recognized street after Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and Hollywood Boulevard. In 1991, the national Historic district (United States), histori ...
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American Jazz Museum
The American Jazz Museum is located in the 18th and Vine historic district of Kansas City, Missouri. The museum preserves the history of American jazz music, especially Kansas City jazz music, with exhibits including Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald Big Joe Turner, Thelonious Monk, and Etta James. The Blue Room is a jazz club which holds live performances multiple nights each week. The museum also runs youth cultural programs, including youth jazz ensembles, lessons, camps, and visual storytelling sessions. History The museum opened on September 5, 1997 and shares the building with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. In March 2024, music historian and ethnomusicologist Dr. Dina Bennett became the executive director of the museum, returning after beginning her professional career there as in intern in 1999. Collections The museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate. It displays the Graphon alto saxophone played by Charlie Parker at the famous January 1953 ...
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